Loyalty
by SwimmerNinja13
Summary: Everybody deserves a second chance. At least that's what Emmy O'Neill used to think before her run away punk sister returns unexpectedly with the news of her engagement and expects Emmy to be her maid of honor. Now Emmy must learn to forgive and stay loyal to her sister even if she was never loyal to her.
1. The Pain We Felt

**Hey guys! So I wasn't quite sure what you'd categorize this as, so I went with Bible because it's a fictional story with lots of Christian themes in it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

The first time Delara and I played brides was twelve years ago when we yanked the white sheets off our beds much to Mom's dismay and walked down the at that point unpainted hall we pretended was the church aisle. Delara would even French braid our hair and wrap it into a bun we shoved pillow cases over to pretend were veils. Then Delara would hold me an arms length away and say to me, "Emmy, you and I are gonna be the world's most beautiful brides ever someday. Promise me we'll be each other's maids of honor."

Considering she was ten, and I was five, I actually believed her and held onto the fantasy until I reached middle school and realized that maybe I wasn't quite as glamorous as I thought.

Those were the good old days. I never thought we'd one day return to them.

Once Delara entered middle school, well, things changed between us. Five years never had made a difference before, but now I was just her kid sister and she was my moody pre teen sis. We weren't by any definitions close. By seventh grade, Delara was wrapped up in the wrong crowd dressing in all too revealing clothes and sneaking out to go to parties.

She'd ran away with her boyfriend her junior year of high school to who knows where. That was the day I went from child everyone ignored to the problematic tween going to counseling every Thursday from the stress of trying to help my parents find Delara again. Mom and Dad searched everywhere, but Delara never turned up...

...until the day we received the phone call.

Delara called to yank out the stitches of the ever so slowly healing wounds she left. She spat out the words no sobbing mother ever wants to hear in her lifetime.

"I'm happier without you. I hate you. I'm so much better with Nick. He's shown me things, how to have fun, unlike you freaks."

I don't think mom or dad ever recovered from that call. The daughter they had tried so hard to raise to love the Lord and serve him had turned her back around and slept with a guy who looked like he could be a murderer. They tried to move on and act like I was their only daughter. I probably would have even enjoyed it had a nasty gash not been left in my heart from walking into the room we used to share and seeing only my bed now and longing for her to walk in just like old times.

She'd take one look at me and sigh a sigh that clearly meant I wish you'd scram, but I didn't care anymore. I missed that.

I try to move on. I really do. I'm better off without her. I have to be.

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	2. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Hey! Sorry this took so long to update! It took a while to write this. And I apologize, I'm having computer problems, so I can't hold stuff right now. On the bright side, I got copy and paste to finally work!

"I wanna look like love. Be more than just enough. For the hearts that are broken. Coming undone," Britt Nicole sang through the headphones I had shoved into my ears the moment I stepped on the bus. I have negative feelings about the bus. It's always overflowing, stinky, and filled with teenage guys who love to swear and talk about their favorite subject: women or more like what they do with women. It disgusts me! I can't believe anyone could be proud of doing such a thing.

That's why I've got music. To tune all that out and listen to something that will maybe inspire me to want to do my homework when I get home. I'm the last stop, so I can usually get through about five songs although it's easy to admit I'd much rather not finish even one.

By the time I get home, I'm half death and not just because of how loud my music is usually turned up. It's because despite having my music turned up as loud as I can take, I could still hear guys boasting about how "cool" it is to rape. Rape! Since when is that cool and why am I not totally freaking out because I have classes with these guys and I might as well be their next victim?

At least I'm home now, and I can stop worrying about it until tomorrow. I've got homework to worry about now. A whole packet full of geometry proofs. Harrah!

The moment I walk in the door I realized I have an even bigger problem though, and it all starts with three simple words from my mom, "Emelyn, come here."

Being the overly perfect daughter I've trained myself to be ever since Lara ran away, I come at her beckon, "Hi mom. How was your day?" I drop my bag and head in the next room.

Oh no.

Mom's crying.

"What happened Mom?" I ask. I hate seeing her cry. I want to run right up to her and hug her just like I did when well, ya know.

Mom hugs me back and rubs my shoulder, Your sister came home Emmy. Delara is home."

The bathroom door opens, and sure enough, out comes Delara dressed nicely in my sweater. MY SWEATER! And I want to kill her. Don't get me wrong, I missed Lara as much as my parents did and was wounded deeply when she ran away, but as they say "out of sight, out of mind" and I had finally begun to heal. Having her standing in front of me wearing my sweater and looking better in it than I do and just returning after she hurt us so bad though makes me despise her.

"Hey Emmy. Long time no see," Delara waves at me and smiles. She's like the ultimate figure of calm and serenity and I'm just burning up inside feeling exactly how the Prodigal Son's older brother must've felt. Long time no see? That's what people say when they go a couple weeks maybe without seeing each other and then they bump into one another in the grocery store and make small talk for a few minutes before going about their ways with a simple "see you at church next Sunday." That's not what you say when you disappear to only God knows where for years and then come home and borrow your younger sister's sweater.

"You're back," I say more as a statement than anything else. What more should I say? I missed you so much, come here and hug me? Okay, part of me wants to do that, but the other part of me is extremely tempted to kill her so I can forget about her again.

"I know. I should have come back a while ago when I found Jesus, but I got so involved with a church that I couldn't just leave. Then I had to since I have some important news to share."

She's been saved now and she's wearing my sweater?! Okay, I know I should relax, but for some reason I just can't grasp onto the idea of sharing my sweater (my obsession ever since I learned to knit) and my Savior with Delara after all she's done to us. I'm hoping this big news is that she's moving to Africa to become a missionary or something, so I can forget about her again even though I can't picture my punk sister even with her hair no longer lavender and her tattoo hidden ever becoming a missionary, "what's that?" I ask being oh so cordial.

"Not yet. I'm waitinguntil Dad gets home," Lara explains.

Ha! Waiting for Dad to get home. We've been waiting how long for her to come home, but now this news all rests on when dad gets home! What kind of twisted day is this?

I hope you all enjoyed. Question time!

What's Delara's news?

Has anyone had a situation like that on the bus? I used to, but I no longer ride it since nobody would take care of the problem kids.

I'm going to make a playlist for this story based off of the songs Emmy likes to listen to. What preferably Christian songs do you think should go on it?

Do you think Emmy is too high strung or opinionated at times? I have a specific personality I'm trying to portray in her and I want to know how well I've been doing at it.

Have a good week all of you, and I will try to update sooner this time. See Ya!

#God's Not Dead!


	3. Take Two

**Hey guys! This probably won't happen that often, but I'm updating this again today because a I'm really enjoying writing this and b it's this or read a terribly written book I have to read for homework but not for some time yet that I'm already almost done with. So yeah. Enjoy!**

I want to storm off into my room like a child again. I want to hug her. Gah! I don't know what I even want anymore. So I just stand there. And stand there. And stand there some more. Eventually I get bored of standing, so I get a glass of water and sit down.

"So how's school going?" Delara asks so politely that it throws me off and nearly causes a spew of water to go straight back into my cup.

"Oh it's going great," I roll my eyes. My only classes I like are English and World History. The later one's on because of my teacher though. His name is Mr. Bryant and he's an amazing Christian. One of the things I like about him is how when we're working he will turn on music and not the horrible swear word every other word stuff my fellow classmates like to blast but good clean stuff that's borderline between Christian and contemporary.

"That's good. Who are your friends these days? Do you have a boyfriend yet?"

I find the last question semi offensive even though Delara isn't wrong. I've never had a crush even which my dad frowns upon due to his hope of becoming a granddaddy one day, "Same as when you left," I shrug. That isn't totally not true. I've lost some friends along the way, but I've gained others, and I haven't exactly made new ones thanks to my lonely quietness that developed thanks to the girl sitting across from me who might I remind you is wearing my sweater!

"I don't believe it for a second! Anna always treated you like dirt. You're still friends with her?"

"The only person who treated me like dirt was you!" I scowl and March right on up to my room before Delara can speak a word of protest.

When I get there, I turn on my music and surprise surprise! "Forgiveness" by Toby Mac starts playing. I sigh a long, stressed sigh. Alright, when I listen to music I usually want to get my mind off things that bother me, not constantly remind me of it. Sometimes I just hate playing a song I've memorized from hearing it so often and having the meaning come slamming back in my face kudos to the heat of my current situation. But still, here I am listening to it.

"We all make mistakes sometimes. And we all step across that line. But nothing's sweeter than the day, sweeter than the day we find forgiveness, forgiveness. And we all stumble and we fall. Bridges burn in the heat of it all. But nothing's sweeter than the day you call out forgiveness. We all need, we all need. Forgiveness."

Classic me, I start crying. Oh God what have I been doing all this time? I should have welcomed Lara back like the Prodigal Son's father and not so much like his older brother. As I work my way down the stairs, I begin to think of this as take two. Take two of loving and forgiving Delara. Take two of living to serve the Lord.

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and don't worry! This is far from over. This is only the end of part one. Thanks to all of you who sent in playlist ideas. I'll have the playlist up soon. I might get a youtube account soon that I can put the playlist on, but if not, I'll make links to the songs in my profile. By the way, the song from the beginning of chapter two was "Look like Love" by Britt Nicole. It's not an overly popular song of hers, but I really like it. The one I used in this chapter was Forgiveness by Toby Mac. I'm not sure how popular it is, but a couple years ago, two girls from my school did a cover of it for the school talent show, and they did a really good job at it. That is what got me into the song. Enjoy your weeks. See Ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	4. Square One

**Hey guys! Here's the latest update. A brief announcement first though, I have a youtube account now. The link is on my profile page. The playlist for this story is published. Tonight's chapter will be kind of short because of time, but I still wanted to get this up.**

"Emmy are you in here?" A knock on the door interrupts my Toby Mac jam session I've got going. Face it, you can't listen to just one song and not want to hear another. Lara opens the door while I'm in mid dance move. I shouldn't be embarrassed that she caught me dancing, it's happened in the past after all, but I still can feel the blood rushing up to my face.

"Hey Lara," I smile and for the first time since I got home, it feels genuine, "I'm sorry about earlier. I just needed to take a breather I guess. It's a lot to take in having you home and all."

Lara past me on the back and sits down on my bed taking in the sight of the room we used to share. It's changed a lot. Posters from Winter Jam as well as some random selfies I took with friends clutter the walls, and Delara and my old beds have been replaced with a double I use. The walls are the same old pale pink though, "it's okay. I'd feel the same if I were you. Can we agree to start over at square one again?" Delara looks obviously uncomfortable being the one who betrayed us in the first place.

"Square one it is," I smile back and finally pull her into the tight hug I've been wanting to all day since I got home. She returns it.

"Remember when we promised we'd be each other's maids of honor?" Delara asks loosening up a bit.

"Yeah," I reply smirking. I know exactly where she's going with this, and to say I'm excited would be about the world's biggest understatement ever!

"Does that promise still stand?" Delara looks at me hopefully.

I pull her even tighter, "I can't believe you're actually getting married! Who's the guy?" I squeal. I may have never been on a date, but the hopeless romantic inside me let's lose every once in a while.

Delara just looks at me and shakes her head, "you're going to have to wait until dinner. And for mom and dad's sake, you didn't hear anything, got it?"

"Got it," I squeal once again and pull her tight.

 _God, thank you so much for bringing her home!_

 **I hope you all enjoyed! I'll try to update soon, but exams are coming soon, so I can't say when. Enjoy your week. See Ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	5. Resentment Served Cold

**Hey everyone! It's been forever, and I'm sorry. At least I'm more consistent with updating this than some of my other stories? Anyway, hope you all enjoy!**

The moment the garage door opened, Lara and I bolted down the stairs. Hey, it's not like she's seen Dad in years or anything. Tonight's one of those nights where it seems like Dad can't get in the door fast enough. I can hardly contain myself. How in the world is Lara staying this cool? Yet again, I'm reminded of the fact that she's changed.

"Hello girls!" Dad says kissing Mom on the cheek and giving my ponytail a tug. Lara frowns. It's like he doesn't even notice her. Or maybe he does but is choosing to ignore her. None the less, I'm feeling awfully sorry right now.

"It's okay," I mouth in Lara's direction. Lara gives me a thumb up, although the sadness in her eyes is painfully obvious. All I want to do is help her, "Hey Dad, I've got some really good news!" I squeal, "Delara's home again!" I finish before he has a chance to talk.

Delara just stands there silent, taking it all in. Dad stares back at her. My stomach somersaults. What's happening? Should I say more? I can't take this, and clearly nobody else can either.

"Shall we eat?" Mom finally cuts in. I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. I sense Delara do the same. Maybe talking over dinner is what they need. Dad's a fitness trainer at the community center, and by the end of the day, he's always hungry and is angry at someone for not giving their fullest. I've learned the hard way not to get in between him and his dinner.

"Yes," I sigh, "What's for dinner?"

"Stir fry and veggies," Mom says nonchalantly. Delara's eyes light up. That's always been her favorite food, and let's just say our mom's stir fry tops anyone else's. (Not to brag or anything!)

"Would it be alright if I pray tonight?" Delara asks. I already feel tension rising. It's always been Dad's thing to pray before dinner. I'm getting the sense they're not going to mix well again.

"Of course," Mom smiles. Dad frowns at the floor and shakes his head. Uh oh. When he does that, it's never good.

We sit at the table and how our heads. Delara leads the prayer which is probably the most heartfelt prayer I've heard in a while. It's not your typical "thanks for this food, amen," it's how do I put this? Deep? She covers everything and could have gone longer except for one thing that ticks me off.

Dad grunts when she gets going on. Luckily, Delara stopped it there before this got any worse.

The stir fry feels unusually tasteless in my mouth. Probably because I'm so upset by the tension between Dad and Lara. I can only hope they'll work things out and work it out fast!

"So what made you decide to come back?" Dad scoffs. My hair rises. Can't he be somewhat polite? I wonder although considering how I acted earlier, I'm not the one to talk.

Delara takes a deep breath and explains how Nick dumped her in a parking lot and she went to a homeless shelter. After that, a church came and volunteered to serve food, and Delara got talked into attending by the pastor and became a Christian the next Sunday and got a job a day later. She explained how she went to a community college and was asked to speak to the church multiple times about her experience.

"Sounds like you had a pretty good life without us," Dad says putting emphasis on those last two words, "what made you decide to leave it?" The skepticism in his voice is getting annoying. Why Dad, why?

Delara casts me a glance. _Go on._ I think as if she can actually hear that, "I got engaged."

"Okay, that's enough!" Dad pounds his fist and walks out of the room leaving the rest of us in dead silence. My stomach aches now. I wish this all would just end.

 **So what did you think? Was Dad too harsh? How will Mom react? Is Delara okay? What's going through everyone's heads? You'll just have to wait and see! Until next time, adios!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	6. Family Is Greater Than Geometry

**So, it's my anniversary week and yeah. I'm getting really tired of repeating myself. Chances are, you're tired of hearing this too, but I need to apologise for not getting this up sooner today. This is a kinda long story, again I'm sorry, I did something really stupid this morning and it's fair to say I got what I deserved. Anyway, my brother and I were biking and getting a little competitive, and I was crouched down real low when I hit a raise in the sidewalk and slammed my head just to the side of my right eye, like almost touching it close. I actually thought I was fine until I touched my hand to it and it was covered in blood. Then I got really traumatized by the blood, and Joey had to get our mom since I couldn't move, and we went to emergency care where I got stiches. Needless to say, I've been having headaches all day since then, but I'm finding that if I close my right eye, it's not so bad. This chapter might be short though just because staring at a screen for more than thirty minutes at a time is making me nauseous.**

"It'll be okay Delara, just give him some time," Mom says as if she actually knows. She strokes Lara's back the way she used to when we were little and had the flu.

Delara wipes back a tear," I know Mom, "I get it. It's my fault really."

"Don't say.."

"It is my fault Mom. I was the one who ran away from home, not him."

Mom continues to rub her back. Tears start to grow in her eyes too. She tries to fight them and opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes, Delara's right.

Meanwhile, I'm just sitting there feeling overwhelmed by the situation. There's nothing I can do to help Delara or to make Dad come back and apologize. Once again, I feel like the little child suffering in the middle of the drama between sister and parents with no way out and no way to deal with it. God, help me please!

"Look, why don't we just finish dinner then watch some tv to give your father some time to himself?" Mom suggests.

"Do you mind if I do my geometry while we do that?" I ask. Suddenly, the fact that I still haven't done my homework something I'm usually done with hours before now comes crashing down on me.

"Fine by me," Lara shrugs, "schoolwork comes first."

We clear up the dishes and stack them in the dishwasher, then I hurry to grab my school bag. It feels surprisingly heavy. When did all this junk get so piled up?

There's nothing really on, so Mom and Delara settle on an AFV rerun while I get all comfy with my pencil and calculator. For as much as I like to complain about geometry, it actually doesn't seem all that bad. I mean it's a three page packet, but there's really only two proofs on each page. Maybe things are finally looking up again.

I half pay attention to the show mostly scribbling different theorems and postulates down, but I can't seem to relax. What Delara said earlier about schoolwork coming first keeps echoing in my brain that it's hard to even focus as I finish my final page.

Delara may have been right about how homework is priority over tv, but what she wasn't right about was what else homework has priority over. My family is falling apart, and here I am making geometry more important than spending time with the people I care most about. God, forgive me!

This whole time I've been acting as the victim. I went to counseling for two years for crying out loud! But if I keep playing the victim, then that's all I'll ever be. My family's falling apart, and I'm going to be the one to fix it. Family is greater than geometry.

I feel sort of excited like I'm on a covert mission as I go upstairs to follow the plan I spent a whole two seconds planning when I'm really just going to talk to my dad. I feel brave. I feel indestructible.

Then I see Dad alone in his room. Sobbing.

 **So what did you think?**

 **Thanks all of you for giving me so much support. You've helped make this year possible, and also thanks Joey for typing the rest of this when I couldn't take starting at the screen any longer. See Ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	7. Never Change

"Dad?" I asked barely peering through the doorway. It still was hard to believe that Dad of all people was crying. He _never_ cries.

Dad looked up in despair and closed his Bible, "Hey Emmy, just the girl I wanted to talk to," Dad outstretched his arms and welcomed me to join him.

"Are, are you okay?" I let tumble out of my mouth unsteadily.

"It's just a lot to take in," Dad sighed and rubbed my shoulder the way he always does.

"I know. I wanted to kill Lara when I first saw her. I know God really wants me to forgive her, and I'm trying to," I say. It's true. As happy as I am that Lara's back, I still feel the four year old wound cutting deep.

"Me too," Dad replies and catches me off guard.

"So, Lara makes it sound like her fiance is a pretty great guy. I can't wait to meet him," I say to break the suffocating silence.

"Me too," Dad says, but this time, it doesn't surprise me as much, "and if he's anything like the last one, well... I'll bring a ruffle just in case!"

"Dad!" I stifle back a laugh. Dad snorts, and I completely lose it. Suddenly, I'm snorting too. Dad raises his finger pointing at me and covers his mouth.

"What's going on in here?" Mom shouted, interrupting us.

"Nothing Michelle!" Dad yelled back.

I clamped my hand over my mouth, lest I reveal we're monkeying around.

"Noah, do you know where the air mattress is?" Mom asked. Worry filled her eyes, "I don't want Lara sleeping on the floor, even though she says it's fine."

"Of course Hon, I think it's in the basement," Dad says and rises from the bed. Before he leaves the room, he squeezes my shoulder and kisses my forehead, "g'night kiddo. Never change who you are."

"Goodnight Dad," I reply and remain sitting there for a moment after they leave, smiling cheesy. I love Dad so much. That's why I promised, the first time he told that to me, that I never would change myself.

I met up with Lara in the bathroom. She's midway through brushing her teeth, but the toothy grin she gives me still seems genuine.

I dig through my drawer for floss and decide to start a conversation, "I know it doesn't seem like it, but I really think dad's glad you're back. Maybe he just needs some one on one time talking with you," I say and wrap a string of floss around my fingers.

"I hope so. I really hope he can forgive me," Delara says after she spits foamy toothpaste into the sink.

"So do I," I say. My tongue catches on the floss wedged between my two front teeth. It's a system I've used all my life.

"And even if he doesn't, I know Jesus already did a long time ago."

"So true," I agree and toss my floss in the waste basket.

Delara waits for me to brush my teeth, then we walk to my, no _our_ room together. Mom and Dad are in there blowing up our old air matris. Mom holds up old princess tiara sheets I used when I was maybe seven, "I'm sorry, these are the only sheets I could find. We'll have a real bed and sheets for you soon Lara."

"Mom, you don't have to buy me a new matress. I can sleep on this, it's fine," Delara offers up.

"I don't think so! I'm not going to have you sleep on this filthy old thing until your wedding!" Mom explodes.

For some reason, I find this whole predicament hilarious, but, hey, I've had a wild day! I contain myself and begin to pull of the comforter of my bed. Looking at the welcoming sheets made me realize just how tired I've been. How long have I been running this thin for? I climb under my nest of blankets and pick up my devotional.

Moments later, mom and dad are saying goodnight again. I notice, just as Dad leaves he tussles Lara's hair just like he does mine. All I can think is yes! Thank you Lord!

 **Alright, question time!**

 **Who has a dad like Noah who will have a rifle handy when meeting boyfriends? I sure do. (Not really, but he always says that!)**

 **What do you think Lara's fiance is like?**

 **I gotta go to bed now, so have a great night, see ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	8. Sick Day

**Hey everyone! It's anniversary week for me, I'm going to skip the explanation since I'm so sick of writing it. Enjoy!**

I woke up groggy the following morning. Lara and I had spent so much time giggling like little girls at a sleepover that I did hardly any sleeping. I'm gonna regret this later.

I make my way down the stairs and begin pouring myself a bowl of cereal.

"Honey, do you feel okay?" Mom asks, "you're putting orange juice in your cereal. Were you and Lara up late last night?"

I sigh. Confession time! "Yeah," I croak. My throat feels all scratchy. Oh no! I am sick! And exams are coming up! I can't afford to miss school! Not now!

Mom puts her hand against my forehead, "you feel awfully warm. Why don't you go back to sleep. I'll call the school and let them know you won't be going today."

"But Mom..."

"Good morning y'all!" Lara chirps. She makes her way downstairs looking bright and happy. Then she stops in her tracks, "Emmy, are you feeling okay? Your eyes are telling a story."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I yawn.

"You don't look too good," Lara replied

"Gee thanks!" I protest, "And I feel fine! I can go to school today!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Lara apologized.

Mom looked at Lara, "Do you mind taking care of Emmy today? I still have to work, but I'll try to get off as soon as possible."

"Of course not! We have some sister bonding time to catch up on anyway!" Lara replied enthusiastically.

That's when I realized I was fighting a losing fight. There was no way I'd win if Lara and Mom teamed up. It looks like I won't be going to school today no matter how close exams are.

"Well great, but from the sounds of it, you did plenty of that last night," Mom winks at us, "Get some sleep Emmy. I mean it!"

With that, Mom heads out the door while calling the school.

Suddenly a wave of nausea sweeps over me. I clasp my hands on the counter, "Lara... I think I'm gonna pass out!" I wail. Tears are pouring out of my eyes and I'm not even sure why.

Lara grabs a hold of me in a tight hug and lowers me to the floor, "it's okay Emmy. I've got you. Just sit still for a second. I'll get you some water."

Lara pulls a cup out of the cupboards and fills it with water while I lean against the fridge in a daze.

"Drink," she instructs and places the cup against my lips. I take slow cautious sips until Lara's satisfied with what I drank, "do you think you can walk back to our room?"

I nod. Lara helps me up and walks up the stairs with her arm around my waist to help me keep balance. My head keeps spinning.

When we reach our room I slowly lower myself into bed, my muscles burning with every movement. Lara pulls the covers over me. I drift off dreaming of the days when we were young and danced in sheets for our wedding dresses.

 **I hope you all enjoyed. I know there wasn't that much drama in here as the other chapters, but don't worry, next chapter will be action packed!**

 **Thanks for all the support these last two years!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


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